MINI Cooper Yachtsman unveiled at auto show

NEW YORK CITY, NY — The 2012 New York International Auto Show, which takes place at the Jacob Javits Convention Center from April 6 through 15, is a chance for the public to get a look at advancement in automotive technology and design. This year, the public also gets a peek at a model called the MINI Cooper Yachtsman, which was unveiled as a vehicle that travels not only on the roads but also on water.

But, given that it was unveiled on April Fools Day, many automotive writers are calling it an obvious joke. Some of the specifics listed in the press release about the vehicle also suggest it’s not a serious offering, with such statements as “the Mini Cooper Yachtsman is fitted with a shark-resistant undercoating as standard.”

The sky-high price and the rest of the final paragraph leaves little question that it’s a gag, “Developed after extensive testing of punt prototypes on the River Isis (near MINI's manufacturing facility in Oxford, England) and in the deep waters off Greenland (where The Kraken of legend lurks), the MINI Cooper Yachtsman is priced at US $236,000 and comes with a fully incomprehensible warranty that includes 3-year no-cost moorage, annual dry-docking and free barnacle removal, for the original captain.”

Kevin Cox, an employee of Narrowsburg Motor Sales in Narrowsburg, got an early look at this and other vehicles.